SCN: "SCN was no longer going to exist"

[J. Johnson]

One of the highlights of the annual meeting was a presentation on "The
Suit" from one of the lawyers.  And late breaking news:  Rich has
filed an appeal!  Apparently he didn't get the hint when the trial
judge said he didn't even have a strong enough case to bring to trial.

There weren't many details on the specific events, but the judgment
had some interesting aspects.  You all will recall that Rich actually
filed a complaint with the Bar about SCN's first lawyer, maintaining 
that SCN's case was so weak that it was unethical to even attempt a
defense.  Well, it turns out that in the summary judgement _Rich_ was
fined $625 for bringing a frivolous lawsuit, plus another $150 for
non-cooperation during the discovery proceedings.

However, that is peanuts.  Rich's suit (despite his claim that it
would not harm SCN financially) has cost us at least $4,000.  And 
the pro bono ("free") lawyers from Preston, Gates, and Ellis have
logged about 500 hours on this case; at their normal billing rate of
$190 an hour this would have cost $95,000!!

To quote one of our Board members:  "There were times when SCN was no
longer going to exist.  Because it was not economically viable for the
organization to continue because we couldn't afford to pay for the
lawsuit.  It would have been easier to shut down the doors and start a
new organization.  So the fact that we have SCN today really is due to
our volunteer commitment, our membership commitment--and the wonderful
and timely help of Preston, Gates, & Ellis, their entire firm and
wonderful attorneys."  Another: without them, "we wouldn't be here."

The wonderful attornies are Jason Holtman and Steve Mutkoski.  It has
been suggested--and I strongly endorse!--that messages be sent to
Preston, Gates, & Ellis (and specifically to Steve Peltin, 
stevep at prestongates.com) thanking them for saving us.

It was an dumb lawsuit (it "was dumb last year, and it's _still_
dumb!"), by a user with an over-blown opinion of himself.  But it
could have sunk SCN.  Do send a message of appreciation.

=== JJ =============================================================

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
.	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
unsubscribe scn
==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ====
* * * * * * *     http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/     * * * * * * *